Wave definition
To make a signal with an up-and-down or back-and-forth movement of the hand or an object held in the hand.
Waved as she drove by.
verb
To swing or brandish (a weapon)
verb
The wave traveled from the center of the lake before breaking on the shore.
noun
A wave is defined as a burst of emotions, a swell along the surface caused by wind, a sudden occurrence of something, or a back and forth motion with your hand.
When you suddenly feel really sad, this is an example of a wave of sadness.
The water movement that you use to go surfing in is an example of a wave.
When a series of protests starts to occur, this is an example of a wave of protests.
The motion you make when you move your hand back and forth in greeting is an example of a wave.
noun
The definition of wave is to move back and forth in a swinging motion, or to style your hair in a series of curves.
When you move your hand back and forth in greeting, this is an example of a time when you wave.
When you crimp your hair so it curls a little bit, this is an example of a time when you wave your hair.
verb
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To arrange into curves, curls, or undulations.
Wave one's hair.
verb
To move or swing as in giving a signal.
He waved his hand.
verb
To signal or express by waving the hand or an object held in the hand.
We waved goodbye.
verb
To signal (a person) by using the hand to move in a specified direction.
The police officer waved the motorist into the right lane.
verb
A widespread, persistent meteorological condition, especially of temperature.
A heat wave.
noun
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A ridge or swell moving through or along the surface of a large body of water.
noun
A small ridge or swell moving across the interface of two fluids and dependent on surface tension.
noun
A surge or rush, as of sensation.
A wave of nausea; a wave of indignation.
noun
A sudden great rise, as in activity or intensity.
A wave of panic selling on the stock market.
noun
A rising trend that involves large numbers of individuals.
A wave of conservatism.
noun
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One of a succession of mass movements.
The first wave of settlers.
noun
A maneuver in which fans at a sports event simulate an ocean wave by rising quickly in sequence with arms upraised and then quickly sitting down again in a continuous rolling motion.
noun
A disturbance that travels through a medium. Energy is transferred by a wave from one region of the medium to another without causing any permanent displacement of the medium.
noun
A graphic representation of the variation of such a disturbance with time.
noun
A single cycle of a periodic wave.
noun
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A member of the women's reserve of the US Navy, organized during World War II, but now no longer a separate branch.
noun
To move up and down or back and forth in a curving or undulating motion; swing, sway, or flutter to and fro.
Flags waving in the breeze.
verb
To signal by moving a hand, arm, light, etc. to and fro.
verb
To have the form of a series of curves or undulations.
Hair that waves naturally.
verb
To cause to wave, undulate, or sway to and fro.
verb
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To give an undulating form to; make sinuous.
To wave one's hair.
verb
To move or swing (something) as a signal; motion with (the hand, arms, etc.)
verb
To signal (something) by doing this.
To wave farewell.
verb
To signal or signify something to (someone) by doing this.
He waved us on.
verb
A ridge or swell moving along the surface of a liquid or body of water as a result of disturbance, as by wind.
noun
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A motion to and fro or up and down, such as that made by the hand in signaling.
noun
Something like a wave in action or effect.
- An upsurge or rise, as to a crest, or a progressively swelling manifestation.A crime wave, heat wave, wave of emotion, etc.
- A movement of people, etc., in groups or masses, which recedes or grows smaller before subsiding or being followed by another.A wave of immigrants.
noun
(old poet.) Water; esp., the sea or other body of water.
noun
(physics) A periodic motion or disturbance consisting of a series of many oscillations that propagate through a medium or space, as in the propagation of sound or light: the medium does not travel outward from the source with the wave but only vibrates as it passes.
noun
An undulation or series of undulations in or on a surface, such as that caused by wind over a field of grain.
noun
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A curve or series of curves or curls, as in the hair.
noun
An appearance of undulation, by reflection of light, on watered fabric.
noun
A disturbance, oscillation, or vibration, either of a medium and moving through that medium (such as water and sound waves), or of some quantity with different values at different points in space, moving through space (such as electromagnetic waves or a quantum mechanical wave described by the wave function).
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Something that moves up and down, back and forth, in and out, left and right, or otherwise in a gradual, curving, or undulating motion. See also waveform.
(intransitive) To wave one's hand in greeting or departure.
I waved goodbye from across the room.
verb
To raise into inequalities of surface; to give an undulating form or surface to.
verb
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(intransitive, baseball) To swing and miss at a pitch.
Jones waves at strike one.
verb
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To call attention to, or give a direction or command to, by a waving motion, as of the hand; to signify by waving; to beckon; to signal; to indicate.
verb
A shape which alternatingly curves in opposite directions.
Her hair had a nice wave to it.
Sine wave.
noun
(figuratively) A sudden unusually large amount of something that is temporarily experienced.
A wave of shoppers stampeded through the door when the store opened for its Christmas discount special.
A wave of retirees began moving to the coastal area.
A wave of emotion overcame her when she thought about her son who was killed in battle.
noun
A sideway movement of the hand(s).
With a wave of the hand.
noun
A group activity in a crowd imitating a wave going through water, where people in successive parts of the crowd stand and stretch upward, then sit. Usually referred to as "the wave"
noun
To move freely back and forth or up and down in the air, as branches in the wind.
verb
To have an undulating or wavy form; curve or curl.
Her hair waves naturally.
verb
To cause to move back and forth or up and down, either once or repeatedly.
She waved a fan before her face.
verb
The sea.
Vanished beneath the waves.
noun
Something that suggests the form and motion of a wave in the sea, especially:
- A moving curve or succession of curves in or on a surface; an undulation.Waves of wheat in the wind.
- A curve or succession of curves, as in the hair.
- A curved shape, outline, or pattern.
noun
A movement up and down or back and forth.
A wave of the hand.
noun
make waves
- to disturb the prevailing calm, complacency, etc.
idiom
Idioms and Phrasal Verbs
Origin of wave
- Middle English waven from Old English wafian webh- in Indo-European roots
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From W(omen) A(ccepted for) V(olunteer) E(mergency Service)
From American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition
- From Middle English *wave, wawe, waghe (“wave"), partially from waven (“to fluctuate, wave") (see above) and partially from Old English wÇ£g (“a wave, billow, motion, water, flood, sea"), from Proto-Germanic *wÄ“gaz (“motion, storm, wave"), from Proto-Indo-European *weǵhe- (“to drag, carry"). Cognate with North Frisian weage (“wave, flood, sea"), German Woge (“wave"), French vague (“wave") (from Germanic), Gothic 𐍅𐌴𐌲𐍃 (wÄ“gs, “a wave"). See also waw.
From Wiktionary
- From Middle English waven, from Old English wafian (“to wave, fluctuate, waver in mind, wonder"), from Proto-Germanic *wabōnÄ…, *wabjanÄ… (“to wander, sway"), from Proto-Indo-European *webh- (“to move to and from, wander"). Cognate with Middle High German waben (“to wave"), Icelandic váfa (“to fluctuate, waver, doubt"). See also waver.
From Wiktionary
- See waive.
From Wiktionary